Method and apparatus for applying resources in heterogeneous network system

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for applying wireless resources in order to control inter-cell interference in a heterogeneous network system. The method for applying wireless resources provided by the present invention generates an almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern on the basis of the type of data transmitted from at least one of a first base station and a second base station, applies a non-ABS or an ABS to wireless resources of the first base station according to the generated ABS pattern, and performs data communication by using the wireless resources to which the ABS has been applied.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 15/114,596, filed on Jul. 27, 2016, which will be issued as U.S.Pat. No. 10,517,029 on Dec. 24, 2019, which is a U.S. National Stageapplication under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of an International application numberPCT/KR2015/000885, filed on Jan. 28, 2015, which is based on and claimedpriority of a U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/932,513, filedon Jan. 28, 2014, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and a Koreanpatent application number 10-2014-0040199, filed on Apr. 3, 2014, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allocatingradio network resources in a heterogeneous network system. In detail,the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allocatingradio resources of an eNB for controlling inter-cell interference in aheterogeneous network(HetNet) system. In particular, the presentinvention relates to a technology for improving bodily-felt performanceof a UE by balancing the load between a high throughput eNB (macro cell)and a low throughput eNB (pico cell) operating on the same frequency ina heterogeneous network (HetNet) environment.

BACKGROUND ART

Recently, research has been conducted on pico cells for distributing theload of a macro cell in the 3GPP. The heterogeneous network environmentwhere macro and pico cells coexist has come into the spotlight becauseit offers the possibility of improving system performance in comparisonwith the legacy macro cell environment.

The 3GPP has proposed an enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination(eICIC) (or time-domain ICIC) technique for balancing the load betweenthe macro and pico cells more effectively.

Since it is typical that a pico cell with low transmission power has ashort antenna in comparison with the macro cell, it is difficult tobalance the load between the macro and pico cells efficiently,especially when using an eNB-UE association rule (rule for the eNB withthe highest signal strength to serve the UE).

That is, if the UEs select the cell with the highest Reference SignalReceived Power (RSRP) as their serving cell, a certain UE may connect tothe macro cell even when a pico cell is the best cell. Such a UE islikely to cause interference within the pico cell and thus degrade totalnetwork throughput. Also, if the number of UEs connected to the macrocell is much smaller than the number of UEs connected to the pico cell,this is very inefficient in view of resource utilization.

In order to solve the above problems, the eICIC uses a Cell RangeExpansion (CRE) technique for providing the UE with criteria forhandover between macro and pico cells. That is, the eICIC is designedsuch that the UE selects the pico cell from which the signal strength isgreater than a value acquired by reflecting a CRE bias (unit: dB) to thesignal strength from the macro cell as the serving cell of the UE inorder to improve the load balancing effect.

However, the UEs that have connected to the pico cell due to the CREbias may suffer interference from the macro cell because the RSRP fromthe macro cell is still stronger than that of the pico cell.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention has been conceived to solve the above problems andaims to provide a method and apparatus for allocating resources forcontrolling the interference from the macro cell to the UE locatedwithin a CRE region as an extended coverage of the pico cell.

Solution to Problem

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a resourceallocation method of a first base station in a heterogeneous networksystem includes generating an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) pattern basedon the type of data transmitted by at least one of the first basestation and a second base station, applying ABSs or non-ABSs to radioresources of the first base station according to the ABS pattern, andperforming data communication using the radio resources to which theABSs or non-ABSs are applied.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a first basestation for allocating radio resources in a heterogeneous network systemincludes an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) pattern generation unit forgenerating an ABS pattern based on the type of data transmitted by thefirst base station and a second base station, a macro control unit forapplying ABSs or non-ABSs to radio resources of the first base stationaccording to the ABS pattern, and a radio communication unit forperforming data communication using the radio resources to which theABSs or non-ABSs are applied.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a resourceallocation method of a second base station in a heterogeneous networksystem includes receiving an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) pattern from afirst base station, reconfiguring the ABS pattern based on the type ofdata transmitted by at least one of the first and second base stations,applying ABSs or non-ABSs to radio resources of the second base stationaccording to the ABS pattern, and performing data communication usingthe radio resources to which the ABSs or non-ABSs are applied.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, asecond base station for allocating radio resources in a heterogeneousnetwork system includes an Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) pattern receptionunit for receiving an ABS pattern from a first base station, a controlunit for reconfiguring the ABS pattern based on the type of datatransmitted by at least one of the first and second base stations andapplying ABSs or non-ABSs to radio resources of the second base stationaccording to the ABS pattern, and a radio communication unit forperforming data communication using the radio resources to which theABSs or non-ABSs are applied.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

The resource allocation method and apparatus of the present inventionfor use in a heterogeneous network system is advantageous in terms ofmitigating interference from the macro cell to the UE located within theCRE area as the extended coverage of the pico cell.

Also, the resource allocation method and apparatus of the presentinvention for use in a heterogeneous network system is advantageous interms of being applied stably without modification of the legacy LTEstandard and eICIC specification.

Also, the resource allocation method and apparatus of the presentinvention for use in a heterogeneous network system is advantageous interms of expanding the coverage of the pico cell 203 and improving auser's bodily-felt quality through load balancing between the macro cell201 and the pico cell 203.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the wireless communication systemarchitecture to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a CRE UE;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the first eNBaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the second eNBaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for allocating resourcesaccording to an ABS pattern generated by the first eNB according to anembodiment of the preset invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary ABS pattern generatedaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the first to third pattern informationof the resource restriction according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for the second eNB toallocate resources based on the ABS pattern generated by the first eNBaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed descriptions of well-known functions and structuresincorporated herein may be omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matterof the present invention. This aims to omit unnecessary description soas to make clear the subject matter of the present invention.

The terms used in the following description are provided to helpunderstanding the present invention and may be modified into differentforms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The following description is applicable to various radio access systemsincluding Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency DivisionMultiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), OrthogonalFrequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), and Single Carrier FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) systems. The CDMA system may beimplemented in the form of a radio technology such as UniversalTerrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) and CDMA2000. The TDMA may beimplemented in the form of a radio technology such as Global System forMobile communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), andEnhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE). The OFDMA system may beimplemented in the form of a radio technology such as IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, and Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA).The UTRA is a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS). The 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPPLTE) is a part of the Evolved UMTS (E-UMTS) using the E-UTRA and adoptsOFDMA in downlink and SC-FDMA in uplink. LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) is anevolved standard of the 3GPP LTE. The WiMAX may be described as the IEEE802.16e standard (WirelessMAN-OFDMA Reference System) and advanced IEEE802.16m standard (WirelessMANOFDMA Advanced system). Although thefollowing description is directed to the 3GPP LTE and LTE-A systems forclarity, the technical concept of the present invention is not limitedthereto.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the wireless communication systemarchitecture to which the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 1, the wireless communication system to which thepresent invention is applied includes at least one macro cell and atleast one pico cell.

In the following description, the term “heterogeneous network system”denotes the system in which macro eNBs 101 and 103 and pico eNBs 105 and107 operating on the same Radio Access Technology (RAT) coexist.

In the following description, the macro eNBs 101 and 103 may beinterchangeably referred to as macro cells, macro cell eNBs, and firsteNBs; the pico eNBs 105 and 107 may be interchangeably referred to aspico cells, pico cell eNBs, and second eNBs.

At least one macro cell may be served by the macro eNBs 101 and 103, andat least one pico cell may be served by the pico eNBs 105 and 107. Thepico cells serve part of UEs within the macro cell for load balancing.

The transmission powers of the pico eNBs 105 and 107 may be lower thanthose of the macro eNBs 101 and 103, and it is typical that the coverageof the pico cells of the pico eNBs 105 and 106 is smaller than that ofthe macro cell.

The UE may connect to the macro cell or the pico cell to perform datacommunication with the eNB. In an embodiment, the UE may select the cellhaving the greatest RSRP as its serving cell. If the serving cell isselected based on RSRP, the UE may connect to the macro cell even thougha pico cell is the best cell for it. In this case, the UE connected tothe macro cell may cause interference to the UEs served by the pico cellbecause it is located close to the pico cell.

For this reason, the CRE area is defined in order for the pico cell toserve part of the UEs having the strong RSRP from the macro cell, and adescription thereof is made in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a CRE UE.

In the wireless communication system of FIG. 2, the UEs served by thepico cell may include a CRE UE 209 and a non-CRE UE 207.

Referring to FIG. 2, if the RSRP from the macro eNB 201 is greater thanthe RSRP from the pico eNB 203 within the macro cell, the UE is servedby the macro eNB 201. In the following description, the UE 205 served bythe macro eNB 201 is referred to as a macro UE. The macro UE 205 servedby the macro eNB 201 is not suffering significant interference from thepico cell.

If the RSRP from the macro eNB 201 is less than the RSRP from the picoeNB 203 within the macro cell, the UE is served by the pico eNB 203. Inthe following description, the UE 207 served by the pico eNB 203 isreferred to as a pico UE or non-CRE UE.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, part of the UEshaving the RSRP from the macro eNB 201 that is greater than the RSRPfrom the pico eNB 203 connect to the pico eNB 203 under the control ofthe network. This is designed to increase the data rate of the UEthrough load balancing between the pico and macro cells. At this time,the network may control such that the UE of which the pico cell signalstrength is greater than a value acquired by reflecting CRE bias (unit:dB) to the macro cell signal strength connects to the pico eNB 203.

If part of the UEs located outside the coverage of the pico cell areserved by the pico cell, this gives an effect of defining a new areabetween the macro cell and the pico cell; in the following description,this area is referred to as a CRE area, and the UE 209 operating in theCRE area is referred as a CRE UE.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the CRE area may bereferred to as a reserved area. According to an embodiment of thepresent invention, the reserved area may be considered as an areaconfigured for inter-cell load balancing.

In an embodiment, the CRE UE 209 is a UE suffering significantinterference from the macro cell, and the non-CRE UE 207 is a UEsuffering less interference from the macro cell.

Since the CRE UE 209 is served by the pico eNB 203 from which the RSRPis relatively weak even though it is located within the area where theRSRP from the macro eNB 201 is strong, it suffers significantinterference from the macro cell. Accordingly, the macro eNB 201configures part of subframes as Almost Blank Subframes (ABSs) whichcarry no downlink data as far as possible to mitigate interference tothe CRE UE 209. Since the pico cell is suffering almost no interferencefrom the macro cell during the ABSs, it is possible to improve theperformance of the CRE UE 209 in such a way that the pico eNB 203allocates resources to the CRE UE 209 during the ABS.

If the macro eNB 201 increases the ratio of the ABS, interference-freetime of the pico cell increases, and this increase improves thethroughputs of the UEs served by the pico cell. However, this causesdownlink transmission delay of the macro cell; thus the throughput ofthe macro UE 205 served by the macro eNB 201 decreases. If the ABS ratioincreases because there is a large number of CRE UEs 209, even though alarge number of subframes is required in order for the macro UE 205 toreceive downlink data, this is likely to degrade whole networkthroughput and network efficiency.

Thus, the present invention provides a method for the macro and picoeNBs 201 and 203 to allocate radio resources based on an ABS patternthat is capable of reducing interference from the macro cell to the CREUE 209.

In the following description, the macro and pico eNBs 201 and 203 arereferred to as the first and second eNBs, respectively, for convenienceof explanation.

If the first eNB 201 has a signal to transmit immediately and transmitsthe signal even during the ABS, the CRE UE may suffer unexpectedinterference from the first eNB. In contrast, if the first eNB suspendstransmission of the signal, the user served by the first eNB fails toreceive the scheduled signal.

In the case that the subframes predetermined for the CRE UE to receivethe broadcast information (e.g., SIB-1 of the 3GPP LTE) stably areconfigured as ABSs, the first eNB may not broadcast the correspondinginformation.

In the case that predetermined subframes predetermined for the CRE UE toreceive paging information are configured as ABSs or non-ABSs, the firsteNB may not transmit the paging information or the CRE UE cannot receivethe paging information stably.

According to the ABS pattern proposed in the present invention, thefirst eNB may provide the second eNB suffering interference from thecorresponding cell with the ABS pattern. According to the eICICspecification of the 3GPP LTE FDD, the ABS pattern is a 40-bit stringrepeating every 40 ms to restrict the transmit power (Tx Power) of thefirst eNB. For example, the first bit of the 40-bit string may indicatewhether to restrict the Tx power in the first subframe during the 40 msperiod. If the corresponding bit is set to 1 (=ABS), this means that theTx power of the first eNB decreases; otherwise, if the corresponding bitis set to 0 (=nonABS), this means that the first eNB may not be affectedby a special Tx power restriction. It is typical that the CRE UE sufferssignificant interference from the first eNB in the case of using theeICIC technique; thus, in order to improve the radio channel quality, itis advantageous to allocate radio resource during the ABS in which theTx power of the first eNB decreases. That is, the ABS pattern informsthe second eNB whether the Tx power of the first eNB increases/decreasesexplicitly so as to make it possible for the CRE UE located within theextended coverage of the second eNB to perform radio communicationstably.

Meanwhile, the resource restriction technique allows the user to measurethe channel condition in predetermined subframes. In detail, the eNB mayprovide the UE with the information of three patterns according to theresource restriction technique.

The first pattern (pattern 1) is 40-bit information indicating whetherto measure Reference Signal Received Poser (RSRP) and Reference SignalReceived Quality (RSRQ) of the serving cell as the eNB serving the UEand indicating subframes for determining radio link failure (RLF).

The second pattern (pattern 2) is 40-bit information indicatingsubframes in which the UE can measure RSRP and RSRQ of the neighboringcells.

The third pattern (pattern 3) is two pieces of 40-bit information, thefirst 40 bits indicating the ABS for measuring channel quality (CQI) andthe second 40 bits indicating non-ABS for measuring channel quality. Incontrast, it may also be possible to configure the first 40 bits toindicate the non-ABS for measuring channel quality and the second 40bits to indicate the ABS for measuring channel quality. Accordingly, itmay be possible to allow the user to measure the channel quality in theABS and non-ABS selectively using the third pattern and allocate radioresources to the UE and determine a modulation and coding scheme (MCS)based on the measured channel quality.

In order to improve the entire throughput of the heterogeneous networkincluding the first and second eNBs 201 and 203, it is necessary todetermine the ratio of the ABSs among the entire subframes.

A description is made hereinafter of the apparatus and method accordingto an embodiment of the present invention for applying theabove-described ABS patterns and resource restriction technique incompliance with the LTE standard.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the first eNBaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the first eNB 300 according to an embodiment of thepresent invention may include a macro control unit 301, an ABS ratiodetermination unit 302, a resource restriction transmission unit 303, aPUSCH allocation unit 304, a PDSCH allocation unit 305, an SIB-1transmission unit 306, a paging transmission unit 307, a forced HOexecution unit 308, a measurement subset transmission unit 309, and anABS pattern transmission unit 310.

The X2 I/F is an inter-evolved Node B (inter-eNB) interface (I/F) whichis used only in the meaning of inter-eNB I/F in this block diagram.

The macro control unit 301 may receive an ABS ratio value from the ABSratio determination unit 302. The ABS ratio is the informationindicating the ratio between the ABS and non-ABS among the subframesduring the 40 ms and may be updated as time goes by. That is, the ABSratio may be determined in various manners and vary depending on thenumbers of UEs served by the macro and pico cells. However, the ABSratio determination method is not limited in the present invention.

The macro control unit 301 may generate an ABS pattern according to thedetermined ABS ratio.

The ABS pattern may restrict the signal transmission power of the firsteNB 301. That is, the transmission (Tx) power of the first eNB 301 maybe controlled to be very low in the ABSs but not restricted in thenon-ABSs.

A description is made in detail later with reference to FIG. 5 of themethod for generating an ABS pattern.

The ABS pattern transmission unit 310 may send the second eNB 400 thegenerated ABS pattern.

The macro control unit 301 may determine whether to allocate a PacketUplink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to a macro UE based on the ABS pattern andsend the determination result to the PUSCH allocation unit 304. ThePUSCH is an uplink physical channel for unicast data transmission, andthe PUSCH allocation unit 304 may allocate and transmit PUSCH dependingon the determination made by the macro control unit 301 on whether toallocate PUSCH to the macro UE 311.

The macro control unit 301 may also determine whether to allocate aPacket Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) to the macro UE based on the ABSpattern and send the determination result to the PDSCH allocation unit305. The PDSCH is a downlink physical channel for unicast datatransmission, and the PDSCH allocation unit 305 may allocate andtransmit PDSCH depending on the determination made by the macro controlunit 301 on whether to allocate PDSCH to the macro UE 311.

The macro control unit 301 may also determine whether to transmit theSystem Information Block #1 (SIB-1) and a Resource Block fortransmitting the SIB-1 and send the determination result to the SIB-1transmission unit 306. The SIB-1 includes the information concerningwhether the UE can camp on the corresponding cell. The SIB-1transmission unit 306 may allocate SIB-1 resources and transmit theSIB-1 according to the determination of the macro control unit 301.

The macro control unit 301 may also determine whether to transmit apaging message and send the determination result to the pagingtransmission unit 307. The paging transmission unit 307 may allocatepaging resources and transmit the paging message according to thedetermination of the macro control unit 301.

The macro control unit 301 may also determine a subframe set for use, bya user served by the second eNB 400, in measuring CQI during the ABSsaccording to the method for generating the ABS pattern and send thedetermination result to the measurement subset transmission unit 309.The measurement subset transmission unit 309 may notify the second eNB400 of the subframe set.

The macro control unit 301 may also generate a 40-bit second pattern(pattern 2) for use by the macro UE 311 in measuring neighboring cellRSRP and RSRQ based on the subframe set and send the second pattern tothe resource restriction transmission unit 303. The resource restrictiontransmission unit 303 may transmit the 40-bit second pattern (pattern 2)information to the macro UE 311.

Although the first eNB 201 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is depicted in the drawing as a combination of individualcomponents such as transmission units and allocation units, it should benoted that this is just for illustrative purposes; and it is obvious tothose skilled in the art that some or all of the components can beselectively combined into an integrated module.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the second eNBaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

The second eNB 400 according to an embodiment of the present inventionmay include a pico control unit 401, an ABS pattern reception unit 402,a measurement subset reception unit 403, a resource restrictiontransmission unit 404, an RAR unit 405, a PUSCH allocation unit 406, aPDSCH allocation unit 407, an SIB-1 transmission unit 408, a pagingtransmission unit 409, an eICIC/FeICIC management unit 410, a CRE UEmanagement unit 411, and a forced HO execution unit 412.

Descriptions are made hereinafter in detail of the components of thesecond base station 400.

The pico control unit 401 may reconfigure the ABS pattern received bymeans of the ABS pattern reception unit 402 according to the type of thedata transmitted by at least one of the first and second eNBs 300 and400. The ABS pattern reception unit 402 may receive the ABS pattern fromthe first eNB 300 and send the ABS pattern to the pico control unit 401.The ABS pattern reception unit 402 may receive the ABS pattern from theABS pattern transmission unit 309 of the first eNB 300.

The pico control unit 401 may determine whether to transmit a RandomAccess Response (RAR) message for accepting access of the correspondingUE depending on whether the UE served by the second eNB 400 is a CRE UEand send the determination result to the RAR unit 405. The RAR unit 405allocates RAR resource and transmits an RAR message according to thedetermination made by the pico control unit 401.

The CRE UE management unit 411 may determine whether the UE served bythe second eNB 400 is a CRE UE and notify the pico control unit 401 ofthe determination result.

The pico control unit 401 determines whether to allocate PDSCH to thecorresponding UE depending on the information indicating whether the UEserved by the second eNB 400 is a CRE UE, the information being receivedfrom the CRE UE management unit 411, and send the determination resultto the PDSCH allocation unit 407. The PDSCH allocation unit 407 mayallocate and transmit PDSCH according to the determination result fromthe pico control unit 401.

The pico control unit 401 determines whether to allocate PUSCH to thecorresponding UE depending on the information indicating whether the UEis a CRE UE and sends the determination result to the PUSCH allocationunit 406. The PUSCH allocation unit 406 allocates and transmits PUSCHaccording to the determination result from the pico control unit 401.

The pico control unit 401 determines whether to transmit SIB-1, whetherto allocate SIB-1 resources, and RB restriction; and it sends thedetermination result to the SIB-1 transmission unit. The pico controlunit 401 may also use the information indicating whether the picoterminal 420 supports a Further-enhanced Inter-Cell InterferenceCoordination (FeICIC) function, the information being received from theeICIC/FeICIC management unit 410. In detail, the SIB-1 transmission unit408 allocates SIB-1 resources and transmits the SIB-1 according to thedetermination result from the pico control unit 401. The SIB-1transmission unit 470 may also transmit the SIB-1 through higher levelsignaling for the UE supporting the FeICIC function.

The pico control unit 401 determines whether to transmit a pagingmessage to the UE and sends the determination result to the pagingtransmission unit 409. The pico control unit 401 may also determinewhether to perform a forced HO to the first eNB and sends thedetermination result to the forced HO execution unit 412 when an eventtriggering transmission of a Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS)message or an Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) message isdetected.

The paging transmission unit 409 allocates paging resources andtransmits a paging message according to the determination made by thepico control unit 401. The forced HO execution unit 412 may perform theforced HO on the CRE UE according to the determination made by the picocontrol unit 401.

The pico control unit 401 may also generate the information indicatingthe first pattern (pattern 1), the second pattern (pattern 2), and thethird pattern (pattern 3) for use, by the UE served by the second eNB400, in measuring radio channel state based on the subframe set receivedfrom the management subset reception unit 403 and send the informationto the resource restriction transmission unit 404. Meanwhile, theresource restriction transmission unit 403 may send the pico controlunit 401 the subframe set information received from the first eNB 300.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for allocating resourcesaccording to an ABS pattern generated by the first eNB according to anembodiment of the preset invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary ABS pattern generatedaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

A description is made in detail hereinafter of the resource allocationmethod of the first eNB with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

The ABS ratio determination unit 302 determines the ratio of ABS tonon-ABS at step S500. The ABS ratio indicates the ratio of ABS tonon-ABS in the 40-bit ABS pattern information, and the number ofsubframes restricted in Tx power at the first eNB increases as the ABSratio increases. The ABS ratio can be selected by various methods, andthe present invention is not limited to any of the methods if suchmethod can be used to determine the ratio of ABS to non-ABS.

The macro control unit 301 may determine the position of a new subframeto be converted to an ABS in consideration of the rules to be describedlater in order to increase the ABS ratio. In contrast, it may bepossible to convert the ABS to non-ABS in order to decrease the ABSratio in the reverse order of determining the position of the subframeas the ABS ratio increases.

If the ratio of ABS to non-ABS is determined, the macro control unit 301may generate an ABS pattern based on the ABS ratio at step S501. The ABSpattern can be generated depending on the type of the data transmittedby the first and second eNBs 300 and 400, and the description thereof ismade with reference to, but not limited to, the ABS pattern of FIG. 6for convenience of explanation.

FIG. 6 shows an ABS pattern in which the ABS ratio is 7/40˜25/40according to a preferred embodiment.

According to an embodiment, the first rule for generating the ABSpattern is to designate the two subframes for SIB-1 transmission asABSs. The reason for designating the subframes for SIB-1 transmission asABSs is to make it possible for the UE located within the CRE area toreceive the SIB-1.

The second rule for generating the ABS pattern is to designate ABSsdepending on the Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH)transmitted by the second eNB. This is to designate the subframeappearing every 8 ms as an ABS in order for the CRE UE to receive thePDCCH carrying the uplink grant and the PHICH corresponding thereto bytaking notice that the second eNB transmits a HARQ acknowledgement toacknowledge whether it is necessary to retransmit the data transmissionblock to the UE served by the second eNB.

Accordingly, the ABS pattern with the ABS ratio of 7/40 as shown in FIG.6 designates two subframes carrying the SIB-1 and 5 subframes appearingat an interval of 8 ms as ABSs.

If the ABS ratio increases to 8/40˜12/40, five new subframes appearingat the interval of 8 ms are designated one by one as ABSs. Accordingly,for the ABS ratio of 8/40˜11/40, one set of subframes appearing at theinterval of 8 ms is maintained while the number of aperiodic ABSsubframes is increased by 1. If the ABS ratio reaches 12/40, 2 sets ofABSs appearing at the interval of 8 ms are formed.

According to an embodiment, the third rule for generating the ABSpattern is to designate the subframe that is predicted to carry the RARfor accepting the access of the UE to be handed over as ABSs withpriority in increasing the number of ABSs by 1.

The reason for designating the subframe that is supposed to carry theRAR message as an ABS with priority is to make it possible for the UE tobe handed over in a stable and quick manner to the second eNB to receivethe RAR message transmitted by the second eNB during the ABSs of thefirst eNB.

According to an embodiment, the fourth rule for generating the ABSpattern is to designate the subframes carrying the paging message asnon-ABSs.

This aims to allow the first eNB to transmit the paging message in thepaging subframe without being obstructed.

If the ABS ratio becomes greater than 12/40, it may be possible toincrease the number of the ABS subframes of the set of 5 subframesappearing at the interval of 8 ms according to the first to fourthrules. Although the ABS patterns with the ABS ratios up to 25/40 areshown in FIG. 6, it is obvious that the ABS ratio can be increasedaccording to the above-described method.

The macro control unit 301 may reflect at step S502 the ABS patterngenerated based on the ABS ratio to the radio resources. (It appearsthat the expression of “application” is not appropriate for the context.How about to use “application”? If so, it is necessary to correct S502and S802 too.)

The macro control unit 301 decreases the Tx power of the first eNB totransmit only a minimum signal such as Cell-Specific RS (CRS) byrestricting PDSCH transmission during the ABSs.

It may also be possible to decrease the Tx power of the first eNBthrough a power control for transmitting the PDSCH at a relatively lowTx power. Meanwhile, PDSCH transmission of the first eNB during thenon-ABSs is not restricted.

The macro control unit 301 may restrict PUSCH transmission in advance toavoid PHICH transmission during the ABSs. For example, in the case ofthe LTE system that supports retransmissions 4 times including theinitial transmission, the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) withUL grant for PUSCH transmission is not transmitted in the subframesimmediately before all ABSs of 8 ms, 16 ms, 24 ms, and 32 ms.

The macro control unit 301 does not transmit PDCCH with uplink grant forPUSCH in the ABSs to avoid PDCCH transmission in any ABS.

The first eNB 300 may also be allowed to transmit PHICH and PDCCH inABSs and, in this case, the macro control unit 301 does not restrictPUSCH allocation.

If it is determined, by the macro control unit 301, to allocate radioresources, the PDSCH allocation unit 305 and the PUSCH application unit304 may allocate PDSCH and PUSCH radio resources and transmit PDSCH andPUSCH according to the determination result at step S503.

The macro control unit 301 may also control the SIB-1 transmission unit306 of the first eNB 300 to transmit the SIB-1 even when the subframeconfigured to transmit the SIB-1 is an ABS. However, the macro controlunit 301 applies a restriction in order to prevent the SIB-1 of thefirst eNB and the SIB-1 of the second eNB from being transmitted in thesame Resource Block (RB). For example, the macro control unit 301 maycontrol the SIB-1 transmission unit 306 to transmit the SIB-1 in theconsecutive RBs with the lowest indices. In this case, whether to usethe downlink RB with no SIB-1 in the subframe configured for SIB-1transmission is determined according to the transmission rule for use inABSs. This aims to guarantee that even the CRE UE incapable of receivingthe SIB-1 through signaling is able to receive the SIB-1 stably.

However, the UE supporting the Rel-11 Further-enhanced ICIC (FeICIC)function is capable of receiving SIB-1 through signaling; thus, it doesnot need to operate as described above.

The macro control unit 301 may also control the paging transmission unit307 to transmit the paging message whenever necessary. This allows theUE in the idle state that monitors for paging messages only inpredetermined subframes to receive the paging messages without anyproblem. For this purpose, the fourth rule for generating the ABSpattern does not designate the subframe configured for paging messagetransmission as ABS.

The macro control unit 301 may also determine a subframe set made ofABSs even when the ABS pattern varies because of the change of the ABSratio with time and notify the second eNB 400 of the subframe set suchthat the UE served by the second eNB 400 can measure CQI stably duringthe ABSs; however, in order for the UE served by the second eNB 400 tomeasure CQI during the ABSs, it is necessary to inform of the subframesin which the Tx power of the first eNB 300 decreases. The measurementsubset transmission unit 309 of the first eNB 300 may always notify themeasurement subset reception unit 403 of the second eNB 400 of thesubframe set made of ABSs only. The measurement subset shown at thelower part of FIG. 6 is a set of the subframes fulfilling the abovecondition and consists of 5 subframes with the exception of thesubframes configured for transmitting SIB-1.

A description is made in detail hereinafter with reference to FIG. 7 ofthe method for providing the first to third pattern in order for theresource restriction transmission unit 303 of the first eNB to control amacro UE to measure RSRP and RSRQ.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the first to third pattern informationof the resource restriction according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 7, the macro control unit 301 may use the measurementsubset of FIG. 7 to generate the 40-bit information of the secondpattern (pattern 2) for use by the macro UE 311 in measuring RSRP andRSRQ of the interference aggressor cell. That is, the UE served by thefirst eNB 300 is guided to measure the RSRP and RSRQ of the interferenceaggressor cell during the subframes belonging to the measurement subset.This operation makes it possible for the UE served by the first eNBclose to the CRE area to detect the signal from the second eNB and tomeasure the RSRP and RSRQ in the ABSs in which the Tx power of the firsteNB is low.

If it is determined, by the macro control unit 301, to allocate radioresources, data communication is performed with the UE using theallocated radio resources at step S503.

A description is made in detail hereinafter of the method for the secondeNB to allocate resources based on the ABS pattern of the first eNB.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for the second eNB toallocate resources based on the ABS pattern generated by the first eNBaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the resource allocation method of the second eNB according to theembodiment of FIG. 8, the pico control unit 401 receives an ABS patternfrom the ABS pattern reception unit 402 at step S800, the ABS patternbeing transmitted by the ABS pattern transmission unit of the first eNB300.

The pico control unit 401 reconfigures the ABS pattern according to thetype of the data transmitted by at least one of the first and secondeNBs 300 and 400 at step S801.

The first ABS pattern reconfiguration rule of the pico control unit 401is to reconfigure the subframes carrying the SIB-1 of the first eNB asnon-ABSs.

The second ABS pattern reconfiguration rule of the pico control unit 401is to reconfigure the subframes carrying the Primary SynchronizationSignal (PSS)/Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS)/Physical BroadcastChannel (PBCH) as non-ABSs.

This is because it is preferable to handle the subframes carrying thePSS, SSS, and PBCH that affect interference channel estimation of theuser as non-ABSs. Among subframes 0 to 39 of the exemplary ABS patternof FIG. 6, subframes 5 and 25 carry the SIB-1, and subframes 0, 10, 20,and 30 carry the PSS, SSS, and PBCH.

The third ABS pattern reconfiguration rule of the pico control unit 401is to reconfigure the subframes carrying a Paging Control Channel (PCCH)as non-ABSs regardless of the ABS pattern. In FIG. 6, subframes 9, 19,29, and 39 carry the PCCH.

The pico control unit 401 may not apply at least one of the first tothird ABS pattern reconfiguration rules to reconfigure the ABS pattern.

The pico control unit 401 may apply the non-ABS or ABS to the radioresources of the second eNB 400 according to the reconfigured ABSpattern at step S802.

In detail, the CRE UE management unit 411 may check the cause of thehandover of the UE to the second eNB 400 to determine whether thecorresponding UE is a CRE UE, and the pico control unit 401 may allocateradio resources differently depending on the determination result.

In detail, the pico control unit 401 controls the second eNB to wait foran ABS and transmit the RAR message in the ABS in order for the CRE UEto receive the RAR message because it is difficult to guarantee that theCRE UE can receive the RAR message transmitted by the second eNB in anon-ABS of the first eNB during the handover of the CRE UE from thefirst eNB to the second eNB. If the UE which is handed over to thesecond eNB 400 is a non-CRE UE, the RAR message transmission restrictionis not applied. The pico control unit 401 may determine whether to applythe RAR message transmission restriction and apply the RAR messagetransmission restriction depending on the determination result.

If it is necessary to transmit a PDSCH to the CRE UE, the pico controlunit 401 may control to wait for an ABS and transmit the PDSCH in theABS. This aims to guarantee that the CRE UE receives the PDCCH and PDSCHstably. In the case of a non-CRE UE, the PDSCH transmission restrictionmay not be applied.

If it is necessary for the CRE UE to transmit a PUSCH, the pico controlunit 401 may control to transmit a PDCCH carrying the UL grant in theABS appearing periodically. This aims to guarantee that the CRE receivesthe UL grant and PHICH (ACK/NACK information) corresponding to theprevious transmission stably. In the case of a non-CRE UE, thePUSCH-related restriction may not be applied.

The pico control unit 401 may control the SIB-1 transmission unit 408 ofthe second eNB 400 to transmit the SIB-1 in the SIB-1 Tx subframe (ABS)with the RB utilization restriction for preventing the first and secondeNBs 300 and 400 from transmitting the SIB-1 in the same RB. Forexample, the pico control unit may control the SIB-1 transmission unitto transmit the SIB-1 in the consecutive RBs with the highest indices.

The pico control unit 401 may also control to transmit the SIB-1 to theUE equipped with the FeICIC function through higher level signalingbased on the information received from the eICIC/FeICIC management unit410, the information indicating whether the pico UE 420 supports theFeICIC function. The SIB-1 transmission unit 408 generates SIB-1 andtransmits the SIB-1 according to the determination of the pico controlunit 410. The SIB-1 transmission unit 408 may also transmit the SIB-1 tothe UE supporting the FeICIC function through higher level signaling.

The pico control unit 401 may also not apply the paging messagetransmission restriction to the UE served by the second eNB 400.However, only when an event triggering transmission of a paging messageto the CRE UE such as Commercial Mobile Alert Service (CMAS) message andEarthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS) is detected, the picocontrol unit 401 may control the forced HO execution unit 412 to handthe CRE UE over forcibly to the first eNB by taking notice that it isnot guaranteed for the CRE UE to receive the paging message safely. Theforced HO execution unit 412 may hand the CRE UE over to the first eNBwith priority.

The pico control unit 301 may also generate the first pattern (pattern1), second pattern (pattern 2), and third pattern (pattern 3) for use bythe pico UE 420 served by the second eNB 400 in measuring radioresources based on the subframe set information provided by themeasurement subset reception unit 403, the subframe set informationbeing transmitted by the first eNB 300. The first to third patterns aresent to the resource restriction transmission unit 404. Referring toFIG. 7, the first pattern (pattern 1) makes it possible to apply thesubframe set transmitted by the first eNB without modification such thatthe UE served by the second eNB performs Radio Resource Measurement(RRM) and Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) on the serving cell during theABSs in which the Tx power of the first eNB is decreased.

Also, the second pattern (pattern 2) may make it possible to apply thereceived subframe set with modification such that the UE served by thesecond eNB performs RRM on the interference aggressor cell during theABSs in which the Tx power of the first eNB is decreased.

The third pattern (pattern 3) may make it possible to measure channelquality during the ABSs belonging to the received subframe set andtoggle the ABS pattern for maximum ABS ratio to measure the channelquality in the subframes that are always non-ABSs.

The resource restriction transmission unit 404 may transmit the first tothird patterns to the pico UE 420 such that the UE measures the channelqualities of the serving and interference aggressor eNBs in the ABS andnon-ABS.

Although various embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed using specific terms, the specification and drawings are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense in order tohelp understand the present invention. It is obvious to those skilled inthe art that various modifications and changes can be made theretowithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention.Thus, the technical scope of the present invention encompasses not onlythose embodiments described above, but also all that fall within thescope of the appended claims.

1. A resource allocation method by a first base station in aheterogeneous network system, the method comprising: generating analmost blank subframe (ABS) pattern based on a type of data, the databeing transmitted from at least one of the first base station or asecond base information to a user equipment (UE) via higher layersignaling; and performing data communication using radio resources basedon the ABS pattern, wherein the type of the data includes at least oneof broadcast information, paging information, synchronizationinformation, random access information, or physical channel information.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a ratio of theABS to a non-ABS before generating the ABS pattern, wherein the ABSpattern is generated according to the ABS ratio.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising: transmitting the ABS pattern to a second basestation, wherein the ABS pattern is reconfigured by the second basestation when a signal is configured to be transmitted by the first basestation in an ABS according to the ABS pattern.
 4. The method of claim1, wherein the generating of the ABS pattern comprises designatingsubframe carrying system information block 1 (SIB-1) of the first basestation as an ABS.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating ofthe ABS pattern comprises designating subframe carrying a physicalhybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) indicator channel (PHICH)corresponding to a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) transmittedto a UE served by a second base station as an ABS.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the generating of the ABS pattern comprises designatingsubframe predicted to carry a random access response (RAR) message foraccepting access of a UE to be handed over to a second base station asan ABS.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the ABSpattern comprises designating subframe carrying a paging messagetransmitted to a UE served by the first base station as a non-ABS.
 8. Afirst base station for allocating radio resources in a heterogeneousnetwork system, the first base station comprising: a transceiver; and atleast one processor configured to: generate an almost blank subframe(ABS) pattern based on a type of data, the data being transmitted fromat least one of the first base station or a second base information to auser equipment (UE) via higher layer signaling, and control thetransceiver to perform data communication using radio resources based onthe ABS pattern, wherein the type of the data includes at least one ofbroadcast information, paging information, synchronization information,random access information, or physical channel information.
 9. The firstbase station of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to generate the ABS pattern according to an ABS ratioindicating a ratio of ABSs to non-ABSs among entire subframes during anABS pattern generating period.
 10. The first base station of claim 8,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control thetransceiver to transmit the ABS pattern to a second base station, andwherein the ABS pattern is reconfigured by the second base station whena signal is configured to be transmitted by the first base station in anABS according to the ABS pattern.
 11. A resource allocation method by asecond base station in a heterogeneous network system, the methodcomprising: receiving, from a first base station, an almost blanksubframe (ABS) pattern generated based on a type of data, the data beingtransmitted from at least one of the first base station or the secondbase station to a user equipment (UE) via higher layer signaling;reconfiguring the ABS pattern when a signal is configured to betransmitted by the first base station in an ABS according to the ABSpattern; and performing data communication using radio resources basedon the reconfigured ABS pattern, wherein the type of the data includesat least one of broadcast information, paging information,synchronization information, random access information, or physicalchannel information.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein reconfiguringthe ABS pattern comprises reconfiguring subframe carrying systeminformation block 1 (SIB-1) of the first base station as a non-ABS. 13.The method of claim 11, wherein reconfiguring the ABS pattern comprisesreconfiguring subframes carrying at least one of a primarysynchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS),and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) as a non-ABS.
 14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein reconfiguring the ABS pattern comprises reconfiguringsubframe carrying a paging control channel (PCCH) of the first basestation as a non-ABS.
 15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:designating a random access response (RAR) message for accepting accessof a UE to be handed over to the second base station as an ABS.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising: designating physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for aUE to an ABS.
 17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:designating a SIB-1 of the second base station to a resource block (RB)which is different from the RB for the SIB-1 of the first base stationin a subframe carrying the SIB-1 of the first base station.
 18. A secondbase station for allocating radio resources in a heterogeneous networksystem, the second base station comprising: a transceiver; and at leastone processor configured to: control the transceiver to receive, from afirst base station, an almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern generatedbased on a type of data, the data being transmitted from at least one ofthe first base station or the second base station to a user equipment(UE) via higher layer signaling, reconfigure the ABS pattern when asignal is configured to be transmitted by the first base station in anABS according to the ABS pattern, and control the transceiver to performdata communication using radio resources based on the reconfigured ABSpattern, wherein the type of the data includes at least one of broadcastinformation, paging information, synchronization information, randomaccess information, or physical channel information.
 19. The second basestation of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to reconfigure subframe carrying system information block 1(SIB-1) of the first base station as a non-ABS.
 20. The second basestation of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to reconfigure subframe carrying at least one of a primarysynchronization signal (PSS), a secondary synchronization signal (SSS),and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) as a non-ABS.